A close-up picture of a giant iceberg separated from Antarctica

This iceberg covers more than 5000 square kilometers, weighs over 1,000 tons, and is one of the largest icebergs ever separated from Antarctica.

NASA scientists have captured close-up images of a giant iceberg, separated from Antarctica last July.

This is one of the largest icebergs ever separated from Antarctica, with an area nearly equal to the state of Delaware, USA (about more than 5000 km ² ), with four times as much ice as melting ice from Greenland each year.

This is one of the largest icebergs ever separated from Antarctica.

"I was very surprised, because when I flew over this iceberg I still thought it was attached to Antarctica because of its huge area," said Nathan Kurtz, a scientist at the Icebridge campaign at NASA. .

Satellite imagery in July showed that this giant iceberg (temporarily called A-68) is gradually separating from Antarctica from the position of the Larsen C. ice shelf. wrapped around Antarctica, but because of the rapid warming of the Earth that caused them to erode, shields for the ice they encased were separated from Antarctica, melted and caused sea levels to rise.

Icebridge scientists will collect data from now to the end of the month, to track changes in the Antarctic ice surface, thus better understanding the interaction between ice and ocean, as well as the impacts they encounter from climate change. For example, they will predict how much ice is melting from the Larsen C ice shelf, through the use of radar waves for thickness measurement, and infrared cameras for temperature measurements.

If an ice shelf is weakened and collapsed, the consequences will be very fast sea level rise.

Of course, the fact that icebergs escape from Antarctica does not affect global sea levels overnight, but the concern is the consequences they leave with the Larsen C ice shelf - when the This means that the tape will be further weakened.

"If an ice shelf is weakened and collapsed, the consequences will be very fast sea level rise. Because their mission is to keep the Antarctic ice from falling into the ocean," Kurtz said.

One of the most controversial issues is whether a detached glacier is a consequence of climate change. Scientists still do not have enough data to show the world what is happening in the Larsen C ice shelf, not only affected by air temperature but also by sea temperature. .

Larsen C ice shelf is the next ice sheet being eroded in the South.

The Larsen C ice shelf is the next ice sheet being eroded in the South, after the Larsen A and Larsen B ice shelves are completely collapsed. This seems to be a suspicious signal, and Eric Rignot from NASA says he believes this is a climate change issue.

"I see this is not a normal cycle of nature," he said in an email. "The Larsen C ice shelf will not collapse overnight, but the huge size of iceberg separated like this has been more than a century before it happened again. Carl Anton Larsen in 1893 ".